ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, will provide the technology that will help three vessels safely carry out construction and maintenance tasks up to 5 kilometers underwater. The vessels will be equipped with ABB’s OCTOPUS software that uses sensors and the Internet of Things, Services and People (IoTSP) to interpret weather conditions, allowing the crew to make informed decisions during sensitive operations. The ships will be built for Ultra Deep Solutions at CSIC Huangpu Wuchang Shipbuilding Company Limited and China Merchants Heavy Industry.

MT6027 DSCV design Image: Marin Teknikk AS

The largest vessel’s apparatus will include two remotely operated underwater vessels (ROVs), that will dive up to 3000 meters, and a 400 ton crane that can drop 5 200 meters. It will measure 142 meters in length.

The OCTOPUS suite of products is a powerful tool that provides onboard decision support and operational advice during weather-sensitive offshore operations by monitoring and forecasting vessel motions. When working in deep-water without mooring or anchoring lines, an important part of the set-up is the OCTOPUS-Operational forecast function. This extension within OCTOPUS makes it possible to define an optimal operational window during weather sensitive operations on DP.

Juha Koskela, Managing Director of ABB’s Marine and Ports business, said, “The broad scope of supply we have on these vessels is a demonstration of the wide range of solutions we have to offer the maritime sector. These vessels will benefit from some of the most established software and hardware technologies in the shipping industry.”

The vessels also will feature ABB generators, motors, drives and switchboards.

Jithu Sukumaran Nair, General Manager of Shipbuilding at Ultradeep Solutions said, “We are proud to be the first offshore vessel operator in the world to install the OCTOPUS weather monitoring system on board high tech dive vessels”